My kiddos are pretty easy to please. Yogurt, fruit, cereal, eggs, french toast, pancakes..... they love it all. But since I have had a weight problem my whole life, I always try to find ways to make them special treats with a low calorie and low fat spin. My girls usually love to have smoothies. I will toss some frozen fruit, which we always have on hand, in the blender with some lowfat milk, a little agave and some spinach. Sometimes instead of agave, I put in a little coffee creamer instead. My son isnt too fond of fruit smoothies, so I have to find other ways to give him a nutritious breakfast sometimes. This morning I just didnt feel like cooking, and I really dont like to give them cereal too often. Its too hot for oatmeal or cream of wheat, so I searched for a new idea. I opened the freezer, saw the bag of frozen fruit, saw the ice cream, and a lightbulb above my head went on.
Ice cream for breakfast.
But not just regular ice cream. I would trick them!
I grabbed my bag of frozen mixed fruit (cherries, strawberries, peaches, mangos, grapes and pineapples were todays choice, but you can honestly use any frozen fruit) and I grabbed a bottle of my coffee creamer (caramel macchiato, but again, you can use any flavor.) and some lowfat milk. I tossed a nice big handful of fruit in my Ninja blender, a splash of creamer, a splash of milk and blended the heck out of it. Because the fruit is frozen, you get a frozen mixture. If I had put juice or water in (add a little agave so it isnt so tart), I would have gotten a sorbet, but since I added milk and creamer, it came out more like an ice cream. It was sweet but not tart, since the creamer cancels the tartness out, and had the texture and taste of a fruity ice cream from the store. Yet, because I wasnt using heavy creams and artificial or added sugars, it was much healthier. I put the "Ice cream" into cups, handed the kids spoons, and let them eat their breakfast. Not surprisingly, this breakfast was a hit. I ended up putting some sunbutter on some graham crackers for some grain and protein, and they had a pretty balanced breakfast that filled them up, tasted good, and was fairly healthy (even though it didnt seem like it.)
You can experiment on your own. Frozen bananas are good for a dessert ice cream. Add some chocolate chips and a squirt of chocolate syrup and it STILL wont be a terribly unhealthy dessert. You could even use crushed up cookies or candies. You can add flax seed, kale, spinach, chia seeds, etc for fiber, protein and vitamins. Add a little at a time and do a taste in between until you find the perfect balance of healthy but tasty for your family. I like to add protein powder to my ice cream (I'll do a post on that another day) to make it a high protein ice cream.
At about $11 per HUGE bag of fruit (This one is 6 lbs!) and about $3 per quart size bottle of creamer, I think I'll be making our own ice cream from now on. We do have an ice cream maker, but this is much easier in a pinch, and honestly, it tastes so good! Try the ice cream for breakfast trick sometime. I bet your kids will give you some extra 'cool parent' points! When I told my kids how I made this ice cream, they weren't upset in the least, and actually asked me to make it again for them. It was a hit!
2 comments:
ooohhh we just got a ninja not long ago ... my first experiement with icecream was not a hit ... will need to try this :)
Well done! Sounds yummy to this "kid"!!
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